BEAUFORT, S.C. (Sept. 16, 2021) – The City of Beaufort has selected Shenandoah Restorations of Irmo, S.C., to restore the 29 windows in the historic Carnegie Library building in downtown Beaufort.
Several of the windows were damaged by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. In July 2020, the City was awarded a grant of $188,500 from the South Carolina Historic Preservation Office to restore the windows.
This past June, the City issued a Request for Proposals for the restoration work. Shenandoah’s $117,711 bid was both the lowest and most responsive, Finance Director Kathy Todd told City Council members at their Sept. 14 Regular Meeting.
The Carnegie Library Building, which is owned by the City, opened in 1918. It was one of more than 1,600 public libraries across the United States funded by steel industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It is a contributing structure in the Beaufort Historic District. The building now houses the Beaufort/Port Royal Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Downtown Operations Director Linda Roper said the windows’ restoration is expected to begin in October and will last roughly six months.
Also at the Sept. 14 meeting, the City announced that it had received a grant of $12,500 from the South Carolina Department of Archives & History, which the City will match, to hire an expert in building preservation to assess the current condition of the Carnegie Library. The vendor selected will prioritize needed repairs and estimated costs. Roper said an RFP will be issued for this work.
Fire Department grant
At its Sept. 14 meeting, City Council voted to approve a grant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to the Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department for $418,060. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant, which will be matched by $41,806 in City funds, will be used to provide paramedic and basic and advanced emergency medical technician training to firefighters.
Last year, the Fire Department received a DHS grant of $220,824, allowing the department to train 30 firefighters to the EMT-Advanced level.
This grant allowed the department to provide advanced skills and limited pharmacological interventions to emergency patients. On July 1, the level of medical care the department was qualified to provide went from Basic Life Support (BLS) to Intermediate Life Support (ILS).
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